Risk Assessment and Management in Food Safety : beyond Presence or Absence of Threshold

Abstract

Risk analysis carried out to ensure safety of foods seems to be firmly established in the Japanese regulatory system. There are currently two types of risk analysis. The threshold approach seems to be based on the old dichotomy between safe and dangerous. On the other hand, non-threshold approach has not been utilized until recently, because substances which found to be genotoxic have been strictly banned for use in the food industry. However, we have learned that there are many genotoxic carcinogens as pollutants or by-products in our diet. Then, the way of risk analysis carried out in the risk assessment documents of four substances is reviewed, and three new tools are taken up as potentially useful alternatives. Finally, the necessary procedure to ensure evidence based policymaking is proposed.